Time to apply for annual turkey hunting licenses

Thursday

Jan 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The time has come for hunters to apply for their spring turkey hunting licenses.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

The time has come for hunters to apply for their spring turkey hunting licenses.The turkey license application period runs through Feb. 1The 2013 spring turkey season will be long, running from April 22–May 31, depending on the hunt and unit. Hunting strategy often hinges on the specific point in the breeding phase the turkeys are in.“You know, the breeding phase can be pretty variable,” said Brian Mastenbrook, Department of Natural Resources biologist who works in several northern Michigan counties, including Cheboygan. “One day gobblers will be gobbling their heads off and the next day they’ll totally shut up. It just depends. It can be really hot and cold depending on if the toms are with hens or not.”The weather also can throw a wrench in spring turkey hunters plans.“Weather doesn’t affect turkeys so much as it affects hunters,” said Mastenbrook. “The weather can make hunting tougher, especially if it’s rainy or snowy. When the weather is bad it’s hard for the turkeys to hear you calling and it’s hard for you to hear them.”The first two turkey seasons only last one week each. The third season runs for nearly the entire month of May.Gobblers’ primordial urge to procreate is the very reason they respond to hunters calls, but for hunters, a male turkey’s breeding obsession can also be the source of seemingly endless frustration. Turkeys are programmed to breed each spring and within that programming is a code that pushes them to pursue the easiest reasonable conquest. This means if a gobbler is already courting a hen, it’s very unlikely he’ll come to a hunter’s desperate calling. Often times he won’t even respond.They are tough to pull from a hen,” said Al Stewart, DNR upland game bird specialist. “It can happen, but not very often.”